Some of us probably know how long and convoluted the process to obtain a vehicle registration in Indonesia is (if you went through the official channels, that is). Now imagine how difficult it would be to obtain road permits for a fleet of buses.
That is why, despite PT Transjakarta buying 20 high-tech Scania buses from Sweden way back in June, only some of them are actually on the road by now.
“The [permit application] process is long. First, we have to go through the Transportation Ministry, and then the Industrial Ministry, back to the Transport Ministry, and then the police, and then to the Transportation Agency for road suitability tests,” said PT Transjakarta First Director Antonius Kosasih, as quoted by Metro TV today.
The permit application for the Scania buses are particularly long because this is the first time the Swedish-manufactured buses were introduced in Indonesia.
There are currently 9 Scania buses operating normally for Transjakarta. Kosasih is aiming that all 20 will be operational by the end of the month.
In addition, PT Transjakarta will also bring in 31 more Scania buses in December of this year.
